Mālama I ka ʻāina: To Care for the Land
Native Hawaiian activist Michael Crabbe pursues a feature documentary venture, shedding light on Mauna Kea’s cultural importance and spreading awareness of resistance efforts against the Thirty Meter Telescope construction
Story by Kayla Sousa with writing contribution from Isa Kaufman-Geballe
Mauna Kea, the tall dormant volcano near the center of the island, is considered one of the most sacred places to the Hawaiian people. Mauna is the native Hawaiian word for mountain. The White Mountain or Mauna Kea, is a shortening of Mauna a Wakea
Wākea and Papahānaumoku are believed to be the sky father and Earth mother who birthed the Hawaiian islands. Hawai’i is the eldest child, and Mauna Kea is the navel of the island.
If you drive along Saddle Road and look out the window, you can see trees and lava remnants for miles. When the mauna is finally in view, the scenery is now accompanied by tents, flags and signs. These markers line the road where the community of the Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu is located — right across from the entrance to the main access road up to the mauna.
Protecting the entrance to the access road are the kupuna and kia’i, some guardians and elders of the Hawaiian community. Accompanying the sounds of cars, you can hear the sound of groups of people singing and chanting.
This community exists to protect the mauna as a gathering place for those who want to perpetuate and preserve Hawaiian culture.
The kupuna and kia’i are standing together for the place that was once known as a forbidden realm of the gods. For the ʻāina, or land they are on, was once walked on only by Hawaiian royalty. This ʻāina is now home to 13 telescopes and 12 observatories.
The Kahea — Answering the Call
On an early September morning, Native Hawaiian activist Michael Crabbe checks the weather forecast online from his Oregon home.
The big day was looming before him — a two-hour video shoot on Mount Hood for his upcoming documentary, Mauna to Mauna: Together We Rise. He reads there is a 60% chance of precipitation. Crabbe frantically types out a backup plan, worried the video shoot would get rained out.
Three hours pass and he checks again. To his relief, there is now a 0% chance of rain. Without the fear of a torrential downpour, the video shoot is back on track.
“It was the mauna opening the doors for us,” Crabbe said.
Crabbe has had many roles in his lifetime: a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant, a Kamehameha Schools alumnus and a producer. Recently, he is now the creator of the Mauna to Mauna — Together We Rise movement and documentary. His work comes in the wake of the protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope or TMT on Mauna Kea.
As a kanaka maoli, a Hawaiian term used for a person of Native Hawaiian descent, Crabbe has always been drawn to activism surrounding the preservation of his culture. He grew up on O’ahu before moving to Southern California in the 1980s. After dancing hula and co-founding the E Hula Mau, a hula competition in California, Crabbe moved to his current home in Beaverton, Oregon.
His goals for his upcoming film and movement are to visually document the recent resistance toward the construction of the largest telescope on the mountain, set for completion in July 2027. The TMT telescope will be nine times the size of the largest existing visible-light telescope in the world.
Mauna Kea was first chosen in 2009 for its optimal location and level of atmospheric visibility. Despite this, many Hawaiians still feel strongly against another scientific observatory on Mauna Kea, aside from previous efforts made by the observatories to be sensitive to cultural and environmental impacts.
The organization responsible for constructing TMT says it understands the importance of archaeological and cultural sites on the mountain, and takes the protection and preservation of the mountains culture and landscape seriously.
For kanaka maoli like Crabbe and others resisting the development of the biggest telescope in the world, Mauna Kea is not just a mountain but it is a kūpuna: their ancestor or elder.
The telescope’s presence also represents the larger issue of Native Hawaiians fighting to keep their sacred land undisturbed. Native Hawaiians resisted colonial forces developing their land since the late 1800s, when the island was annexed and the royal family imprisoned.
Crabbe said he was inspired by the initial protests in Hawai’i and connected it to his surroundings in the Northwest. One of his first visions was to film and execute a rally for Mauna Kea on Mount Hood — showing a universal connection between these two mountains: from mountain to mountain; mauna to mauna.
He believes that telling a visual story comparing these sacred spaces to each other will be an effective way to inspire empathy and promote cultural awareness on a global level.
“This film, after it’s done, will travel all over the world as an example of ‘If you don’t take care of it now, this is what’s going to happen,’” Crabbe said.
Kuleana — The Responsibility
For Crabbe and the community of people contributing to his efforts, the mauna to mauna connection starts here in the Northwest, away from Hawai’i.
Crabbe is an active leader in the Facebook group, We Are Mauna Kea PDX, founded in April 2015. The group is made up of allies who are supporting the kia’i standing on the frontlines of Mauna Kea, through planning cooperative gatherings such as rallies and special events.
“We are here to support our kia’i and our kūpuna on the big island [of Hawai’i]. We do our part over here to support them over there,” Crabbe said.
Strategizing these events for the group over the past few months has been one of Crabbe’s main responsibilities, in addition to his filming for the upcoming documentary.
Over several weeks in September, We Are Mauna Kea PDX and the Mauna to Mauna — Together We Rise movement launched a social media campaign inviting allies and indigenous people alike to participate in the video shoot.
Over 50 hula dancers showed up that September day on Mount Hood in support of the documentary and the movement to stand against the TMT on Mauna Kea. They sang and danced hula to a medley of excerpts from the songs, “Hawai’i Loa” and “All Hawai’i Stands Together” by Uncle Liko Martin, another Native Hawaiian activist.
Members from the Cowlitz and Kalama tribes stood beside the Hawaiian kia’i that day and shared words of support from Indigenous allies of one land to another.
“The magic of the whole day was them,” Crabbe said. “The real Natives of this land.”
Kapu aloha — A Perspective of Giving Love
Another collaborator involved in the We are Mauna Kea PDX movement is Leialohaokeanuenue Ka’ula. As a kumu, or hula teacher, she coordinates a hula hālau or group called Ka Lei Hali’a O Ka Lokelani based in Oregon. Members of her hālau, participated in the September event on Mount Hood, dancing hula to the Hawai’i Loa medley.
Home for Kaʻula is Hilo, a town she grew up in on the big island. Growing up as kanaka maoli, Ka’ula came to realize her responsibility for educating those in the community about the history and culture of Hawai’i.
“My involvement isn’t only for our mauna, it is for our monarch, our kūpuna and for all those who have come before us,” Ka’ula said. “It’s to educate all those who don’t know and to teach our youth so that they may carry on.”
Though she believes the recent movements have shed additional light on the cultural importance of protecting the mauna, Ka’ula said this fight has been going on for years.
“Everyone sees the kiaʻi now, but theyʻve been up there since 2015,” Ka’ula said. “They have stood at the entrance every single day since [then].”
Ka’ula said that a major positive outcome through these efforts is the unification of a community to stand in solidarity with one another, no matter where they are in the world.
Kapu aloha, aloha ʻāina and the rise of Hawaiian language programs are just some of the benefits Ka’ula views as a result of the TMT protests. Kapu aloha and aloha ʻāina are both expressions Ka’ula uses in her work, meaning learning to give love to one another and striving to be better people who taking care of their land
“I know that TMT will not be built on our mauna,” Ka’ula said in reference to the community standing together against the construction. “We are not alone and TMT is well aware of that.”
Laulima — Many Hands, Working Together
The filming of Mauna to Mauna — Together We Rise is ongoing for Crabbe. His plans are to take Hula Jams across state lines in Washington state. The most recent, the Hawai’i Loa Hula Jam, was hosted by Crabbe this past November in Beaverton, Oregon.
The globally streamed event, featuring dancing and music, was meant to pay tribute to Uncle Liko Martin, a Hawaiian activist and musical artist, whose lyrics inspired the film’s title. The tile “Together We Rise” means standing together and with each other, Crabbe said. Crabbe hopes to highlight Martin’s life and work as an artist and activist through his Hula Jam events in his documentary
For this upcoming shoot, “Together We Rise” will take Crabbe’s adventure from Mount Hood to Mount Rainier in spring 2020. The shoot will be similar to the original Hula Jam involving hula dancers and kia’i from the Seattle-Tacoma area.
Going forward, Crabbe said he will continue spreading his knowledge to the incoming generations of Native Hawaiians and allies to keep the movement of loving the land alive. Once he finishes the film, he has plans to begin showcasing his work through film festivals in Hawai’i and in Oregon.
“[What] we can gain from this is a unity that TMT has created for our Hawaiʻi,” Ka’ula said.
Crabbe and Ka’ula are just two of many individuals who embody kapu aloha and aloha ʻāina in this movement. No matter how long the fight to protect and preserve their culture will take, they will be ready to stand together.